


Just a Moment

by jesileigh



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Baby, F/M, Fluff, Future, Gen, Spec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 14:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14238816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesileigh/pseuds/jesileigh
Summary: William captures a perfect snapshot as Oliver and Felicity take a moment to marvel at the new baby.





	Just a Moment

**Author's Note:**

> I made a comment that a particular screen shot from last night's episode looked like Olicity gazing down at their newborn and then I spiraled and then this happened.

“Did she go down okay?” Oliver asks, his voice barely above a whisper as he sidles up next to his wife and rests his hand on her hip. She nods but doesn’t speak, too afraid that the smallest sound will wake the tiny little human laying in the bassinet by the window. She’s three days old, their beautiful little girl. Oliver thinks it’s been at least that long since either of her parents got a wink of sleep, between the diapers and feedings and pumping--try as she might, Felicity and their daughter just can’t seem to perfect the latch when she nurses, so Felicity has been pumping every two hours around the clock until they figure it out. Oliver isn’t necessarily useful during those moments, but he wakes up every time his wife does, doing whatever he can to make her comfortable. After watching her stick it out through 38 hours of labor and another 4 of pushing to bring their child into the world, the least he can do is bring her a glass of water and change all the diapers. 

 

Felicity’s hand finds Oliver’s chest and she slides it up to his neck and then his cheek, resting it there. He leans into her touch and sighs, letting his eyes flutter closed for just a moment before he opens them again to take her in. Her hair is down and messy, a bit of a wet spot on her pink and white checkered sweater from where she leaked through her nursing pads during a brief nap earlier. She’s not wearing makeup and she’s got dark circles under her eyes. She carries herself differently now--her body changed in all sorts of ways from carrying and birthing their child. And she’s never been more beautiful to him than in this moment. She’s so stunning, the mother of his child. A warrior; stronger than anyone he’s ever known. And she doesn’t even realize how much she makes him fall in love with her over and over again every single day. 

 

His gaze settles on her face and he watches her as she watches their daughter, smiling softly to himself as he takes her in. 

 

“She’s so perfect,” Felicity breathes out, her breath hitching a little. “I can’t believe we  _ made  _ her.” Oliver chuckles softly and the baby stirs for a brief moment before settling again.

“Well she must take after her mother,” Oliver insists. 

“She’s got your ears,” Felicity counters. “And your cheeks.” Her thumb brushes over his cheekbone as she says it, like she’s unintentionally emphasizing her point.

“But that is a Smoak nose if ever I’ve seen one,” Oliver insists. “And she  _ definitely _ has your loud voice. The nurses said they’ve never had one as loud as her.” Felicity shrugs like she can’t be bothered to argue with that.

“I do come by that honestly,” she agrees. Oliver nods and smiles.

“That you do.” He leans in to press a kiss to his wife’s head and she leans into him, letting him hold her up almost entirely. “Why don’t you try to get some more sleep?” he offers.

“I need a shower desperately,” she tells him, mumbling into his chest. “I’m covered in a variety of bodily fluids, only some of them my own. My hair is a disaster. I don’t remember the last time my legs saw a razor and now that I can finally reach again I just might be ambitious enough to take on that project.” Oliver squeezes her a bit tighter.

“You’re doing too much. All the books say you need to sleep when she sleeps.”

“Well clearly the books were written by people  _ not _ covered in breastmilk and wearing incredibly sexy mesh underwear,” she scoffs.

“ _ Incredibly _ sexy,” Oliver says, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She groans at that.

“No. Don’t you dare. Don’t you even  _ look _ at me like that. It’s only been three days and you’re out of your mind if you think you’re coming anywhere near me with that thing anytime soon,” she says with a glare. Oliver just grins. 

“I thought you wanted them close together?” he teases. That just makes her give him The Look and he immediately concedes. And wow, she is going to nail the discipline thing someday.

“I swear I could just watch her all day,” Felicity says with a sigh, her attention back on the sweet, sleeping infant beside them. 

“Me too,” he agrees, rubbing her back. “But  _ you _ should take your shower and then have a nap while I make dinner. We have milk in the fridge from your last pump. If she wakes up I’ll feed her that and you can try to nurse again when you wake up.” Felicity looks up at him wistfully, her eyes shining with tears. 

“I love you,” she tells him. “How did I get so lucky?” 

“I ask myself that question every single day,” Oliver tells her, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips. “Now go--shower and sleep. I’ve got things under control out here,” he promises. 

 

With one last look at the baby she finally does what he’s telling her to, heading to the bedroom to take care of herself for once. Oliver smiles down at his daughter until his phone buzzes in his pocket with an incoming text message. He pulls it out and sees that William has sent him a photo of he and Felicity staring down at the bassinette, bathed in the warm glow of the evening sun from the window in the living room. He stares at it, confused for a moment, until he turns to see his son standing in the kitchen with a smile on his face. 

 

“That’s a great shot, son,” he says, heading over to the kitchen to get dinner started.

“I thought so,” William agrees. “Seemed like the perfect moment, you know?” Oliver pauses in the midst of opening the cupboard to pull out a saucepan and turns back to his son. WIlliam is 14 now, a full-fledged teenager full of attitude and angst and the belief that he knows everything. But something has changed in him since they brought home his little sister and Oliver can’t quite put his finger on it. 

“You know,” Oliver begins, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms thoughtfully. “I spent so many years wondering about you. Your mom told me she’d miscarried, but that didn’t stop me from thinking every so often about who you might have been. When I finally met you, you were already so grown up. I’d missed out on so much…”

“It wasn’t your fault,” William tries to reassure him, but Oliver shakes his head.

“I regret it every single day, William,” he persists. “That I didn’t get to be there for you--that I didn’t get to experience those things. And I finally get to do those things with Ada, but…” he trails off, his gaze wandering towards where his little girl is sleeping in the living room before he turns back to William. “But  _ you _ are the one who made me a dad. You taught me what it means to love someone in a way I didn’t even know was possible. I didn’t have a clue what real, unconditional love was until I knew you existed. And I will forever be thankful for that. Even if our circumstances weren’t great in the beginning. I’m so,  _ so _ grateful that I get to be your dad.”

Oliver watches as William studies the floor and he can tell that the teen is a bit uncomfortable with this sudden and intense display of emotions. 

“I love you too,” William says after a long moment of silence. “And I’m really grateful that you’re my dad too. And for Felicity and for Ada. It’s just that...sometimes I feel...I don’t know? Guilty? I guess? Like I have a whole new family and it feels like I’m just...forgetting my mom, you know?” Oliver feels his heart break for his son and he instinctively wraps his arms around him, pulling him in for a hug even as William stiffens awkwardly. 

“I know what that feels like,” Oliver tells him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. It’s harder now, with William being almost as tall as he is nowadays, but that doesn’t stop him. “But your mom would be so glad to know that you’re surrounded by so many people who love you. And I bet she’d be so proud of the big brother I know you’re going to be to your little sister. There’s nothing like it in the world,” he adds with a grin. 

“Are you done?” William deadpans, and Oliver chuckles, ruffling his hair as he allows William to escape his embrace. 

“I’m not apologizing for showing my child love and affection,” he says matter-of-factly. 

“I’m not a child,” William scowls. 

 “I don’t care if you’re 50 and balding,” Oliver insists. “I’m hugging you until I can’t anymore and that’s that.” William laughs at that, shaking his head at his father in exasperation. 

“Whatever, old man,” he teases.  “Can we just make dinner now, please? I’m starving.”

“Old man?” Oliver guffaws. “Excuse me?” William laughs even louder at that. The noise must startle the baby, as she lets out a loud wail in protest, causing them to freeze, their eyes going wide as they hear Felicity call from the bedroom,

“You wake her you take her!” 

“Oops,” William says, guilty. 

“You heard your stepmother,” Oliver prods. “You wake her, you take her.” William shakes his head at his father, but doesn’t protest in the slightest. 

“Does she need to eat?” he asks, making his way to the crib and scooping up his sister into his arms. It took him a few times, but he’s so comfortable holding and feeding her already, and it makes Oliver’s chest swell with pride to watch his children together like this.

“I’ll warm her up a bottle. Let’s let Felicity sleep,” Oliver says.

“Yes, let’s!” comes Felicity’s response from the bedroom.

“I’ll get her a new diaper and we’ll read until it’s ready then,” William says. And he does just that, changing her into a fresh diaper and then settling into the rocking chair as he chooses a board book at random from the basket next to them. “ HTML for Babies ? Really, Felicity?” he mumbles to himself, shaking his head as he begins to read out loud. 

Oliver starts the water for pasta and begins chopping vegetables at the counter, listening and smiling to himself as Will reads to Ada. Later that night, as he sits in bed next to Felicity while she feeds Ada and celebrates a nursing victory (“Yes! Now  _ that’s _ how you take a boob! Finally!”), Oliver changes the background on his phone to the photo William took of them earlier. And it brings a smile to his face every time he looks at it for the next month. 

 


End file.
